Operation Straight Arrow

Operation Straight Arrow
Part of Wars of the Disinherited
Date 1735.3 AN - Location The Green • Moorland Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Raspur Pact  Moorland (lead nation)  Normark  Qeltois	The Green Confederacy of the Dispossessed.

Operation Straight Arrow is the name given to the ongoing military conflict in the Green located west of Moorland and along the eastern banks of the Strait of Haifa against the hostile tribes of Fuath and remnants of the Confederacy of the Dispossessed.

Background

With armed attacks by roving bands of armed Fuath against the frontier towns of the Kingdom of Moorland, ostensibly supplied by remnant forces of the Confederacy of the Dispossessed, King Alpin MacMartin launched Operation Straight Arrow with the objective of establishing a permanent forward base along the strait. The long-term objective being to break the back of the Fuath and aid the peaceful tribes of Qeltois who have settled in the region after being driven out of central Keltia by constant warfare and the communist regime of Cerulea.

Working in conjunction with Normark, the MAF ordered a destroyer, six patrol boats and three amphibious assault ships to navigate north around the eastern tip of Keltia in order to enter the strait. They would briefly make port at Revby to resupply and provide the crew a brief respite before heading south again. Hostile forces were not engaged until Fuath encampments were spotted northeast of Symphonara. The Fuath were caught unawares and in the process of smelting ore into metal for gunsmithing, clearly preparing for a fresh attack on the frontier.

Major Battles

Inverkell

The first battle of the conflict occurred on the shores of the Strait of Haifa on a small promontory that would come to be known as Inverkell. The MAF expeditionary fleet had sailed from Normark with no delays and made quick time sailing south along the strait. Here they found a Fuath encampment along the banks. A small refinery had been set up and the Fuath were joined by rogue Bassarids of the Dispossessed who were in the process of arming themselves for another foray against Moorland’s frontier.

The MAF fleet caught the encampment by surprise, with the destroyer keeping out of range of the hostiles and shelling the beach, setting fire to the docks and forcing the Faith to retreat inland. This gave the MAF an opening to land its amphibious craft and discharge its cargo of marines onto the shore. Patrol boats were used to contain and/or destroy what few Fuath or Dispossessed craft remained at large on the water.

Once on land the destroyer needed to stop firing due to the danger of hitting friendly forces. But this meant the brunt of the enemy would now fall entirely in the marines who landed. Some aerial support was provided by a gunship that had been brought on the destroyer. Thus the marines were able to force their way into the village and seize the refinery. Although the plan had been to seize the ammunition depot, the exchange of crossfire triggered the improperly stored munitions and the entire depot went up in a volley of explosions.

By the end of the day the MAF had forced the Fuath to retreat inland and had seized all of Inverkell, establishing Moorland’s first base on the straits. Continued counter attacks by hostiles forced the MAF to establish a tight perimeter defense, rudely constructed of logs until a formal base could be completed. While Moorland’s foothold here is tenuous, the objective now is to reach out to Qeltois tribal leaders in the hopes of reaching a formal agreement to counter the Fuath.

Outer Kells

With Inverkell secured, the MAF began a concerted effort to provide additional security to the surrounding area, known as the Outer Kells. Official relations were established with the Qeltois tribes and their Chieftain, White Wolf, who were also fighting the hostile Fuath tribes. It was agreed that Inverkell and the immediate area around it were to be granted to Moorland as part of its territory, while the remaining lands were free for the Qeltois to continue their nomadic lifestyle un-accosted. To this end the two agreed to join forces so as to coordinate attacks against the Fuath and prevent any casualties to friendly forces. Inverkell would remain a neutral port with open passage for Qeltois, giving them permanent, unrestricted access to the Strait of Haifa, guaranteeing them access to food, water and commerce.

As fortifications in Inverkell continued to be enlarged, the MAF began to push outward into the Outer Kells. The offensive was a primarily eastward thrust into hostile territory with the objective of clearing a path across the Green to Nevermoor. The operation began in late 1735 and progressed through the winter and into the spring. Battles were scattered and limited in scope as both allied forces and the Fuath found it difficult to conduct war once snow was on the ground. But as spring thawed the landscape, the offensive was renewed in earnest, as were raids by the Fuath, who had, in their typical ways, depleted their food stores over the winter months.

Most of the confrontations could be classified as skirmishes, as the Fuath failed to materialize with a fighting force greater than a few hundred soldiers at a given time. This likely due to poor command structure and the generally inter-tribal hostility shown between Fuath groups. But this proved to be an advantage for the more-organized MAF, who also wielded superior firepower, and were able to break most of these groups who then fled and/or scattered into the hinterlands. By spring the MAF had pushed about 60km inland and reached a major Qeltois settlement, providing the natives with additional defenses. The advance was halted here while commanders consulted with Qeltois tribal leaders. Meanwhile scouting parties were being arranged to seek out and target Fuath encampments to hopefully break the back of the enemy in the next offensive.

See also

• Moorland Armed Forces
• Operation Lefthand Punch
• Operation Southpaw
• Wars of the Disinherited
• Operation Iron Vanguard
• Nouvelle Alexandrie-Moorland Joint Training Facility